Michael Commane
Irish
Water is in the process of mailing 1.2 million households in the State. The
package includes an ‘application form’ and a guide or information booklet.
It makes
sense that we pay for the water we use. We have wasted far too much of it. Last
week my Irish Water package arrived and my first impressions of this company
scared the living daylights out of me.
The form
that we are asked to complete is made up of two A4 pages. Everyone is sent the
form in Irish and English. And the guide book is in both languages.
I have
no problem at all with forms being in the two languages but it seems to me a
waste of money that every household in the State is receiving the forms in both
languages. Could Irish Water not have included a question asking people if they
wanted the form in Irish? And the same with the booklet, instead of printing it
half in English and half in Irish, could they not have asked people if they
would prefer to receive the Irish copy?
We are
living in difficult economic times. Everyone has been asked to sacrifice and
for many that sacrifice is causing much pain. And in the middle of all the
hardship Irish water is printing approximately 2.4 million forms of which a
minimum of 50 per cent will be thrown in the bin.
That means 2.4 million A4 pages are being wasted. Add to that, the ink and printing costs. I find that a shocking waste of our resources. The 44 page booklet has 22 pages in Irish and 22 pages in English. More waste. Indeed, 26.4 million sheets of wasted paper. Then again, it might be a way for someone to improve their Irish or English. I could think of a cheaper method.
Some
months ago Irish Water posted a pack to households about the installation of
meters and other relevant information. Could they not have included the current
application forms in that postal drop?
It’s no
major issue but the postal address on the form I received did not comply with
the regulations as per the rules and standards set out by An Post for Dublin postal
districts. My address did not include a Dublin postal number. It also included
information that is not required.
From
October 1 Irish Water will bill householders for water usage. But by this stage
all meters will not be fitted, so those who do not have meters will be charged
on an estimated basis. The first bills will begin to arrive in early January.
That
surely is shoddy practice. Imagine calling into a petrol station to buy petrol
and being told the oil company will estimate how much you have purchased and
will charge you accordingly. Would you think of migrating to a phone company
that estimates your usage for the first few months before they begin to charge
you per call?
Our
electricity and gas usage is on occasion estimated but the meters are I place
and are read on a number of occasions during the course of a year.
Absurd,
laughable but that is exactly what Irish Water will be doing for the first few
months with a number of ‘customers’.
And all
this before we even begin to talk about the charge for water and how it will
all pan out. I have been told by an expert that the automatic reading of meters
is not as simple as it seems.
PR gurus
have decided that we are now all customers. A shocking philosophy.
And why
do they want our PPS numbers?
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